Where Have You Been?
by DirrtySouthernBelle
Summary: What if the Cullens weren't in Forks when Bella first arrived?  How would that one detail completely change the entire story?  This isnt your mothers Twilight.


_**Disclaimer: I dont own anything to do with Twilight except the DVD's. **_

_**This is my first fic so be gentle please**_

_**BellaPOV**_

_**Present day Forks, Washington**_

Moonlight filters in through my bedroom window. The tree outside my window reaches into my room with its shadows. The window is still open from his departure earlier. The rain beats a familiar rhythm on my roof. I want to hear his voice sing it to me as I sleep. In the distance I hear a wolf howl. It tears at my heart but I don't want to remember why. Regardless, my breathing remains even and steady. I try to remember the events that led me to this place at this particular time.

_**A Year and a Half Earlier Phoenix, Arizona**_

It's probably not the best idea to be carrying this cactus with my track record of injuring myself. I cant bring myself to care so maybe this whole moving thing is bothering me more than even I realize. I just need a piece of the familiar in this crazy situation. Honestly this is starting to sound more and more like something my loving, erratic, hare-brained mother would do. I'm going to miss her so much. She is the comic relief in the otherwise melancholy movie I call my life. Speak of the devil…

"You ready to go sweetheart? Make sure you don't fall on your face while you're carrying that thing." mom asks me.

Renee Dwyer may be crazy, but she's the best friend a girl could ever have.

"Sure." I say. I absolutely refuse to cause her any more guilt over my decision to live with my dad for awhile. I still cant manage to muster any real enthusiasm now that its time to leave. This could be good. I think. Phil, moms husband, appears right at that moment carrying the last of my bags.

"Let's go ladies!" Phil booms.

Phil's a minor league baseball player. This fact is actually key to my reason for leaving. Oh right! I haven't explained yet what is going on. Mom and Phil are going on the road with his team. I may have been the parent in our relationship for awhile but even my mother wouldn't leave me home alone while she went out of town. She would have stayed home with me but I knew that would make her unhappy. So even though its March and the middle of the semester my junior year I decided to go spend some time with my dad. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

"Yeah, let's go." I say.

"So Phil sounds like an alright guy." Charlie says.

You may be wondering who Charlie is. Charlie Swan is my dad and the police chief of Forks, Washington. The population is around 2000 people. I love my dad but conversations with him are sometimes like pulling teeth: you usually need to close your eyes, imagine an oasis, and have a numbing shot to get through it. We never know what to talk about so mundane is my middle name just like my dads is. At least he tries. This man hates chatter so much that I bet he doesn't even talk to himself. The thought makes me chuckle quietly.

"What's funny? Is he not nice to you, Bells?" Dad asks. Apparently not a quiet enough chuckle.

"No Phil's really nice. I was just… thinking about a joke he told me before I got on the plane." Nice recovery, Swan.

"Oh yeah? What's the joke? I could use some new material to tell at the station." Charlie asks.

Ok maybe not such a great recovery. I try to wrack my brain quickly. The only joke I can come up with is one I heard at school my last day there.

"So this dog walks into Western Union and says he needs to send a telegram. The guy behind the counter looks hesitant but takes out his pen and paper and tells the dog to go ahead. The dog says, 'Bow wow, bow wow, bow wow, bow wow.' And waits patiently. The clerk nods and says that it's the same price for 10 words so does the dog want to add another 'bow wow' to that. The dog looks at him like he's slow and says 'but wouldn't that sound kinda stupid?'." I blurt in one long, even breath.

Dad is quiet for almost too long and then busts out laughing. I can tell that he's genuinely laughing. It makes my heart swell and calms me at the same time. Maybe this is really a good thing. Charlie starts wiping his eyes on his uniform jacket sleeve.

"That is simultaneously the dumbest, most clever joke I've ever heard. Man, I needed that. Thanks, Bells!" he sighs.

I take the opportunity to look around. I think someone forgot the other crayons in the box when coloring this place. I see nothing but green. Don't get me wrong, I love green. Don't they usually say on HGTV that you need an accent color? Oh there's some brown! Dirt! Yay, not!

Next thing I know we're pulling up in front of the old house. I've seen this house every summer as long as I can remember but it still never felt like home. I guess I should change that mindset right now. We head inside the front door, to the left, and up the stairs. I still remember. We come to the door of "my room" and both pause. I'm sure we're both remembering years past but in different ways.

"I hope you like purple. The sales lady picked it out." Charlie says.

"Purples cool." Is the only thing I can mumble at this awkward moment in time.

"Okay well…" he says. Then he walks down the stairs and out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone is kinda like the twilight zone. There's scary music and no one should be there. That's one of the best things about Charlie. He doesn't hover.

The new comforter is purple with dark flowers. I actually do like it. I guess the sales lady at the local department store knows me better than my own parents. My stomach growls as I caress the familiar things in my room. The pictures I drew for dad as a kindergartener, the dinosaur of a computer with internet capabilities (per my mother), Gran's old dresser that would now hold my clothes, and the new bedding that showed me that my dad was trying to adjust to the idea of me growing up.

"Bella! Let's run to the diner for some supper. I'm starving!" Dad says.

Maybe that man can read my mind or maybe we're more alike than I care to admit. Either way, I find myself going down the stairs and following him to the cruiser. I think I'm gonna have to use some of my carefully hoarded savings to get me a vehicle of my own. I refuse to ride in the cruiser any more than I have to.

Now where to find a ride?


End file.
